By Chesa Chesa
The Nigerian Feminist Forum (NFF) has called for an end to all forms of gender inequality, and discriminatory norms in Nigeria, especially female circumcision.
The call was made by NFF Communications Officer, Angela Nkwo, in a statement to commemorate the international day of zero tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), marked every February 6th.
The NFF called for urgent measures to address gender inequality, and discriminatory norms in Nigeria, legislation to criminalize early child marriage and offenders brought to book, measures to address the alarming gender-based discrimination in governance, politics, and public offices and the inclusion of women, an end of FGM to stop systemic poverty and out-of-school girls’ syndrome, and support services from state governments to victims of FGM at risk of physical and psychological complications.
The Feminist group regretted that the practice, also known as female circumcision, excision, or genital cutting, comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injuries to the genital organs for non-medical reasons, mostly carried out between infancy and age 15.
According to the group, FGM must be abolished because it fosters gender-based violence, poverty, forces girls out of school, steals the future of girls, leads to child marriage and teen pregnancy, horrendous life-lasting physical and psychological trauma, difficulty in passing urine, injury to genital tissue, chronic pelvic infections, development of cysts, excessive scar tissue formation, infection of the reproductive system, decreased sexual pleasure and psychological consequences, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, and deaths.
While NFF mourned the deaths of hundreds of girls due to FGM complications, it called for the total abolition of FGM in every community in the country and urgent measures to address the trend.
According to the group, statistics reveal that the 2018 Nigeria Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) showed a high percentage of women aged 15-49 already circumcised, while the three states with the highest prevalence were Imo-61.7%, Ekiti-57.9% and Ebonyi-53.2%.
Further, the NFF expressed worries that hundreds of Nigerian girls were at risk of FGM due to gender inequality and discriminatory social, cultural, and religious norms which uphold the harmful practice, adding that they must be abolished.
